But I Love You
by J. J. Bean
Summary: '"Bobby! No!" Jubilee panicked. "Don't die! Don't die!"' Depressing, morbid, tragic... three words that can be guaranteed never to describe my stories... but this one is. JUBBY, but if you hate sad stories, don't read!


It's been a while, I know, and I hate to return with something so morbid... but I had no other inspiration. I've never written anything so sad… I don't like sad. Reading, watching or listening to sad is just a no-go for me, but I felt a need for some reason… it just sort of happened… the product of a crappy week, I guess. :/ Working on something happier/fluffier, though

Disclaimer: If the X-Men were this sad, I seriously doubt it would be so popular.

* * *

But… I Love You

* * *

Jubilee heard the shot as she turned to call to him. In the darkness, sight often betrayed reality, but she knew what she was seeing when the gun flashed and he fell to the ground.

Her scream echoed in her ears with the ring of the shot, drowning out all the sounds of the battle surrounding them. The sound of his body hitting the mud reverberated along with the thunder and the rain.

She started running toward him, everything forgotten but her mission.

"Jubilee!"

"Stop her!"

The voices sounded far away, like the rain pelting her skin, plastering her hair to her face as she desperately made her way over to him. She was moving too slow. She slipped in the mud, but she clawed her way back to her feet. Hands tried to force her back, but she savagely fought her way past anyone who tried to pull her back.

Words escaped her as she dropped to his near-lifeless side. She pulled him onto her lap, cradling him like a child. She cupped his scratched face, searching for life in his glazed eyes.

"Bobby?" she whispered. "Bobby!"

He blinked slowly, eyes fluttering with the effort.

"Jubilee," he managed hoarsely.

"Bobby! No!" Jubilee panicked. "Don't die! Don't die!"

"Jubes," he whispered. A shaking hand lifted up to brush her cheek, before dropping back to the ground.

"Bobby," she sobbed. "Don't leave me. Don't go!"

"Sh," he hushed her. "Sing me… a lullaby."

"What?" she stammered. "How can – but…." She bit her lip, jaw trembling. "I don't know what to sing."

"Sing… a song."

"Bobby," she whispered as the life slowly faded from his eyes, his breathing becoming even shallower. She swallowed, taking his hand, trying to strengthen her resolve.

"_In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade_," she started, her voice wavering, not caring that she was starting at the last verse. "_And he carries the reminders of ev'ry glove that layed him down_ _or cut him till he cried out_."

The tears still streamed down her face, mingling with the rain, but she made no move to wipe them away.

"_In his anger and his shame, 'I am leaving, I am leaving,' but the fighter still remains, hmm…" _Jubilee sang, her voice a whisper, for only him to hear.

"_Lie-la-lie_."

There was a gunshot.

"_Lie la lie lie, lie-la-lie, lie-la-lie_."

Another shot.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie. Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie_."

He kept his gaze focused on her, even as death approached.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie. Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

There was yelling and screaming all around them, the chaos of war screaming it's presence, but the sound couldn't reach their ears.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie. Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

He squeezed her hand with the little remaining energy he had left.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

Her heart beat even faster, panic flashing in her eyes.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

His cool blue gaze intensified, and she distantly heard herself choke.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

But she found an odd sort of peace in his wordless comforting.

"_Lie la lie lie, lie-la-lie, lie-la-lie_."

She should be the one comforting him.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

She caressed his face, wishing she could do more, that she could save him.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

Bobby's hand went limp in Jubilee's, and his eyes glazed over, staring into the grey sky blindly.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la lie."_

She lifted a trembling finger to close them, to be as if he were asleep.

"_Lie la lie-lie, lie la lie, la-la-la-la... lie_." Jubilee whimpered as the song came to its end, as if it had woven a protective spell over them that kept him alive. And now it was broken. She buried her head in his lifeless chest, feeling no heartbeat, no rise and fall of his breath.

He was barely even a man. He'd never see twenty. They were so close. There was so much he hadn't done, so much she hadn't done. So much had been left unsaid.

She hadn't told him she loved him.

*_**But...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYouBut...ILoveYou**_*

Jubilee shot up in bed, screaming, her tears choking her cries. Breathing heavily, she looked around, finding herself in her room. She reached for light, because the darkness scared her. It was just a dream…

She just about ran for the door and out into the hallway.

There was no way he could have died. Not in a fight where mutant-haters had gotten involved. That was too insignificant. He was stronger than that. If he had to die, it would have been by a much grander cause. Not a stupid bullet. He deserved something greater.

This train of thought wasn't much help to her though.

_He didn't die_, she told herself. _There was no way he could have died. It wasn't real_.

She was going to go and tell him she loved him before it was too late, before something like that happened. She rounded the corner and threw open the door to his room, flicking the light on.

It was empty.

No mess, no clothes, just the bed.

No Bobby.

A sob rose in her throat.

It was real.

She fell to her knees, stunned. She stared, unseeing, into the room.

"But… I love you," she whispered, heartbroken.

And the tears began to fall.

* * *

I cried writing this… let me know if you cried, too. Then it means I did my job. *small, watery smile goes here*

The song was 'The Boxer' by Simon and Garfunkel (I know I messed up on the 'lie la lie' part a bit, but there were so many and they intimidated me into not editing…)

- J.J.B.


End file.
